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The following archival article appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on April 20, 2005:

ROME - Even though freedom of thought is often considered a supreme ideal in the advanced western world, a two-thirds majority of Catholic cardinals opted yesterday for the unfashionable virtue of obedience in electing German Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope.

"Papa! Papa! Papa!" shouted some in the crowd of about 50,000 who gathered in St. Peter's Square to witness the choosing of the first pope in 26 years.

Outside North America, "Papa" is one of the traditional names for the pope.

It emphasizes the way many see the monarch-like leader of the one-billion-member Roman Catholic Church: As a respected father figure who is to be completely trusted to embody ultimate divine truth. In much of the world, Roman Catholicism's "Papa" is not to be questioned.

Even though the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI doesn't hail from the Third World, his papacy will probably play well among traditional Catholics in Latin America, where almost half of the church's members live and where, it is said, questioning authority is not quite the habit it is in North America and Europe. They would have preferred one of their countrymen, but Benedict will be a popular second choice.

He should also play well in Africa, where the Catholic Church is growing fast in competition with Islam, which is more conservative than official Catholicism when it comes to such things as sexuality and the role of women.

Liberal and moderate Catholics in North America and Europe are clearly the losers with Benedict.

They're already expressing a disappointment that is close to bitter, nicknaming then-Cardinal Ratzinger "Cardinal No" for the way he adamantly opposed married priests, female priests, contraception, homosexual activity, abortion in all cases and more.

As chief adviser to Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger always acted tough on doctrine, even while poll after poll showed a large majority of North American and European Catholics disagreed with his stands.

For 24 years, Cardinal Ratzinger was the man in charge of disciplining wayward Catholics on sex-related issues; he also cut no slack for free-thinking Catholic professors, or Latin American Liberation theologians, who wanted to stretch the traditional understandings of the nature of the divine.

Paul Wilkes, a moderate American Catholic who has written several anguished books about the future of his beloved church, said yesterday that Cardinal Ratzinger has pushed too many people outside of the Roman Catholic Church.

While Jesus was "inclusive," Mr. Wilkes said, Cardinal Ratzinger has always been "exclusive."

The rapid decline in attendance rates among North American and European Catholics, as not even one in three baptized Catholics shows up regularly for church, will no doubt continue under Benedict.

John Paul II, who died on April 2 at age 84, was, like Benedict, also strongly conservative on theological issues.

Still, commentators say one of John Paul's big strengths was his charisma.

But few have accused Benedict, a German academic, of having the kind of telegenic appeal of Karol Wojtyla.

Even so, Benedict's supporters -- of whom there are many in the Third World, in faithful First World conservative circles and clearly among the cardinals appointed by John Paul II -- maintain that, despite Benedict's hard-line reputation, he is humble and carefully discerning.

That could be true. And, as many Vatican commentators like to say, cardinals can change when they become pope, offering a more full-blooded and nuanced self-portrait to the world after they really do become the man in charge and the place where the buck stops.

But, in a sermon he delivered on Monday, the day the conclave began, then-Cardinal Ratzinger was harsh and unflinching as he warned the cardinals to stand up against what he saw as the church's biggest enemy -- "the dictatorship of relativism."

In his talk, Cardinal Ratzinger, as dean of the College of Cardinals, called for strengthening church doctrine against the scourge of relativism, which he claimed is the deep-rooted ideology that there are no absolute truths. Disdainful of secularism, Cardinal Ratzinger said this "dictatorship of relativism has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires."

Advocating a conservative path for the church, Cardinal Ratzinger said, "How many winds of doctrine have we known in the last 10 years? How many ideological currents, how many fashions of thought? . . . Having a clear faith based on the creed of the church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Meanwhile relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to modern standards."

Many solid and loyal members and clergy in the Catholic church applauded the cardinal's valiant defence of Catholic doctrine.

However, another German cardinal, a more moderate one who has often clashed with Cardinal Ratzinger, had just given a sermon two days earlier that many were viewing as a call for the cardinals to elect someone other than hard-line Cardinal Ratzinger.

Benedict will most certainly build upon the uncompromising hard line on doctrine that he charted under John Paul II.

His election will thrill conservatives seeking a consolidation of John Paul's policies. It will alienate more liberal Catholics, particularly in Europe and North America, who had hoped that after 26 years, a more progressive pope might take the helm of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.

"If he continues as pope the way he was as a cardinal, I think we will see a polarized church," said David Gibson, a former Vatican Radio reporter and author of The Coming Catholic Church.

"He has said himself that he wanted a smaller but purer church," Mr.. Gibson said, referring to Benedict's suggestion that Christianity may need to become smaller, in terms of its cultural significance, to remain true to itself.

As a cardinal, Benedict criticized the media for focusing too much on the sins of priests involved in the church sex abuse scandal, he excoriated the "filth" in the church in a meditation he penned for the Good Friday Way of the Cross procession.

As the head of the Vatican's ecumenical affairs office, Walter Kasper had openly sparred with Cardinal Ratzinger over the years.

He was a critic of Cardinal Ratzinger, for instance, when, with John Paul's approval, he released a document several years ago that reasserted the superiority of Catholicism over other faiths and Christian denominations.

Cardinal Kasper concentrated a large portion of his homily on the importance of finding a candidate with strong pastoral skills -- a quality that many say Benedict lacks.

"Like the Gospel says, the pastor needs familiarity, mutual caring and reciprocal trust between him and his flock," Cardinal Kasper said. "Let's not search for someone who is too scared of doubt and secularity in the modern world."

There seems little question that Cardinal Kasper was a lonely man among the cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel yesterday evening.

As a result, while conservatives are cheering, the global Catholic church, under Pope Benedict XVI could easily end up more divided than ever.

Issues Facing the New Pope

Sex abuse scandal: Anger over sexual abuses by priests haunts the church in several countries, particularly the United States, which is the Vatican's biggest single source of donations and revenue.

Vatican finances: The Holy See has run deficits for three years, thanks to the slide of the U.S. dollar, clergy sex scandal's hit to donations, and John Paul II's expensive diplomatic network.

Secularism: The number of Catholics seeking to become priests and nuns has dropped sharply in Europe and North America. Church attendance also is down in those regions.

Moral teachings: Despite the church's stand against abortion and birth control, many Catholics, especially in wealthy countries, go their own way on moral issues.

Church governance: Liberals are unhappy with John Paul's centralization of decision-making. They want national bishops councils, and also lay people, to have more say.

Women's role: Advocates for women continue pushing for a greater role in the church, arguing the priest shortage will eventually force the Vatican to accept female clergy.

Biomedical ethics: Technological developments in medicine, such as stem cell research that can destroy human embryos, are increasingly forcing church to define new moral policies.

Interfaith relations: John Paul made strides in improving ties with Protestants, Jews and Muslims, but relations remain strained with the Russian Orthodox and some liberal Protestants.